Thursday, January 27, 2011

Muir Glen Tomato Dinner At Corner Table

Last night Matt & I were invited to a dinner at Corner Table featuring Muir Glen Tomatoes. If you are a reader of this blog you know we are big fans of Corner Table & Chef Scott Pampuch's cooking but, we were surprised he was doing a dinner featuring canned tomatoes. Scott is known for cooking with as much local & seasonal food as possible. (He even bragged that they had to search out a can opener for this dinner since they don't use canned goods.) So, how did canned tomatoes fit into his ethic?
Muir Glen Tomato Dinner
Scott talked about how he only trusts ingredients where he can go visit the farm where they are grown & raised so, he visited the Central Valley California fields where Muir Glen Tomatoes are grown & met the farmers. The tomatoes are all grown organically & hand-harvested which impressed him. Plus let's face it unless you are canning your own tomatoes, your only other local option in MN in  winter is hot house tomatoes which probably leave as much of a carbon footprint as those trucked from CA. As for us, we've been fans of Muir Glen Tomatoes, especially the fire roasted, since we lived in California. We do can our own tomatoes but, when we need to buy some Muir Glen is our go to brand for their superior taste (really there is a difference).

Now let's talk about the food, which was of course amazing...
Muir Glen Tomato Dinner
The evening started with passed appetizers including a tomato tart & tomato soup with grilled cheese sliders.
Muir Glen Tomato Dinner
Then we were served a pasta dish with an Amatriciana sauce that really highlighted the tomatoes. We loved the sofrito stuffing in the pasta.
Muir Glen Tomato Dinner
The second course was a take on a burger with the protein actually lamb terrine. What really made this dish was the combination of homemade pickle relish, tomato gastrique & mustard. It was also served with a tomato salt which seems to be basically oven dried tomatoes ground fine with salt. It had a pretty red color but we didn't notice a strong tomato flavor to it even when tasted along.
Muir Glen Tomato Dinner
The night ended with an olive oil cake topped with tomato sorbet, strawberry basil ice cream & a fennel seed tuille. We didn't care for the tomato sorbet on its own but mixed with the strawberry basil ice cream the flavors became much more mellow. Love, love, loved that fennel tuille.
Muir Glen Tomato Dinner
All & all a very fun night. It was quite interesting to see what a chef of Scott's caliber can do with a can of tomatoes.

Disclaimer: Muir Glen/General Mills paid for our dinner but all opinions in this post are our own & we were not required to write about it.

If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://agoodappetite.blogspot.com OR at http://agoodappetite.com then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at katbaro AT yahoo DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author unless otherwise noted. © 2007-2011 Kathy Lewinski

11 comments:

Elle said...

What gorgeous food! As far as canned tomatoes go, Muir Glen are the way to go! Seems like a truly fun evening.

Amy P. said...

Looks like it was a lovely meal, Muir Glen is my preferred canned tomato brand too.

Lo said...

Muir Glen has always been our "go-to" for tomatoes -- and for all the reasons you've indicated. When we aren't nomming on our own Wisconsin farm fresh tomatoes (or those we've put up), I love the fact that there's an organic brand out there we can trust.

Love the look of this dinner -- especially that tomato sorbet! Sounds like a delicious surprise.

Lori said...

I have not tried muir glen yet.

Stephanie (Fresh Tart) said...

Excellent! Such a fun, delicious night, wish I'd had a chance to chat with you. I thought the wine pairings were neat too.

Fresh Local and Best said...

This looks like a really fun event. I like Muir Glen too. You'll have to ask for the fennel tuille recipe, it sounds quite exceptional.

the wandering fork said...

Looks awesome!

Eat Drink Pretty said...

Looks like a fab evening and dinner. I was invited but had to pass (I had a cooking class that evening at Whole Foods). Hopefully I will be able to attend next time!

Lori said...

You all go to the best tasting and cooking events. So much fun!

Natasha @ Saved by the Egg Timer said...

I use Muir Glen all the time, how do you get all the cool invites?!?!?!

wheelchairs said...

I really appreciate your post and you explain each and every point very well.Thanks for sharing this information.And I’ll love to read your next post too.

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